Last year’s survey showed just how vibrant the space is, it’s time to give some information again to help Mochi and partners to improve Flash gaming world. In addition, you can also win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards.

This survey is completely anonymous. Thanks for your time!!

That’s what Gabriel Bianconi did, and he wants to share his script with us.

It’s a simple, interesting script dedicated to all developers looking for a quick way to integrate Mochi games into their custom arcade sites.

« Hello. My name is Gabriel Bianconi. I’m a 16 years old Brazilian student and I’m interested in game and web development.
I’ve recently launched my first arcade website, PlugB.com. I decided to create my own script for two reasons: to improve my PHP skills and to have a more customizable website.

One of the features I integrated to my admin was the MochiAds ‘Post Game to my Site’ button. Since I add games manually (I don’t want to import all Mochi games), this saves me a lot of time.

When I tried to search about this feature, I realized that there is no tutorial about this online (at least, I couldn’t find one). I searched a little more and found a few scripts about this.

They were integrated to some arcade scripts, so I couldn’t just copy and paste them. But it was a start.

The script that I most used was from Timothy E. Archer.

After a few tests, I’ve created a working script:

Firstly, you’ll need a MochiAds publisher account.

After registering and adding your website, go to the Settings page.

In the bottom of the page, below ‘Auto Post Settings’, set the ‘Auto Post Method’ to ‘Custom built script’ and the ‘Auto Post URL’ to the URL of your script.

Now the PHP part:

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<?php
 
$game_tag = $_POST['game_tag'];
 
// Sample tag to fake a mochi request... Remove this line in final version...
$game_tag = 'cd698a06f727e887';
 
if(!$game_tag)
{
	die('No gametag.');
}
 
// This can be found in the settings page.
$mochi_pub_id = 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';
 
$game_feed_url = "http://www.mochiads.com/feeds/games/$mochi_pub_id/$game_tag/?format=json";
 
//Retrieves and parses the JSON data of the game.	
$json_feed = file_get_contents($game_feed_url);
$json_items = json_decode($json_feed, TRUE);
 
$game = $json_items['games'][0];
 
/* Now you can access all variables about the game with $game['variable_name'];
 * For example: $game['name'] or $game['swf_url']
 * The full list of the variables can be found here: https://www.mochimedia.com/support/pub_docs#feed_3
 * I did not add how to save in a database because it changes from script to script.
 */
 
 
// Sample: (can be removed in final version)
 
echo $game['name'] . ' - ' . $game['swf_url'];
 
/* You should get: Sokobones - http://games.mochiads.com/c/g/sokobones_v1/Sokobones-MochiAds_Secure.swf
 * if you used the sample tag.
 * Remove that line in the final version.
 */
 
?>

Remember to remove the sample game tag in the final version.

Thank you for reading the tutorial. I hope this helps you. Please let me know what you think about this and visit my arcade website. »

Now the complete game has been published and sponsored by Coolbuddy.com.

It’s based on the Flash AS3 Pixel based circle collision engine, that I found better than Collision Detection Kit when you want your ball to bounce.

I added a little twist introducing a gravity switch allowing you to change the gravity during the game. This feature gave me a lot of creativity in level design.

This is what I included in the game:

• 48 levels managed with shared objects
• CPMStar monetization
• Statistics by SWFStats and MochiBot

According to the success of the game, I might plan a sequel… meanwhile play all 48 levels on Coolbuddy.com.

It’s a simple game I made in a couple of days starting from Basic Filler engine with Box2D – part 1, 2 and 3.

All in all it’s almost the same game, I just added a twist introducing colors. You’ll get a bonus if you fill the area with the same percentage of red, green and cyan colors. Although I already have two games about to be published, this is the first of my 10 games to be released in 2010.

It’s monetized with MochiAds but I’m also planning to sell the complete source code once it’s polished and fully commented.

At the moment, after 6 days in the wild, it has more than 100K plays… hope to reach one million in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy.

Here’s something new: did you notice, during this month, two ads about Farmville secrets and iPhone application development? Here they are:

These two ads belong to ClickBank, an ad network which at the moment made its clients earn more than a billion dollars.

As you can see in these two pictures, I did not earn a cent.

Let’s see what happened:

The reasons behind a failure

When I signed up at ClickBank, I obviously decided to display ads having something to do with my blog… this means programming, gaming or monetizing.

The most “interesting” products I was able to find were:

* A couple of registry cleaners (??)
* A couple of PS3 scam backup system (scam because you won’t be able to play with your backups)
* A dozen ebooks about the ULTIMATE (yeah) way to make money with a blog, or with ebay, or whatsoever
* Some hosting services

The first question was: did I really want my readers to buy a useless PS3 backup system? Come on…

So i opted for a FarmVille guide, even if I am not a FarmVille fan and I hate people posting on Facebook they just found a cripple blind sheep in their damned banana field. All in all FV is a great viral game and I thought a guide would be useful for some addicted players.

The other choice was a guide to iPhone programming… why not… I have a lot of programmers among blog readers.

Why it did not work

Well, every blog has its niche readers. Programmers are quite smart… unlike blogging mogul wannabes, they won’t buy anything from one-page websites claiming to sell the “Ultimate Guide to [put your favorite topic here, obviously all uppercase]”

People like you are looking for real deals from real companies, supported by real case studies… that’s why I was one of the three most important MochiAds referral while I wasn’t able to sell a single ClickBank guide.

So it was a waste of time. Wait. It wasn’t

Thanks to my experience, if you have a programming blog you can improve your ads revenue looking for products you can really review, test and suggest, leaving “ultimate guides” to newbies.

This obviously is my personal story, and results may vary according to the niche you’re talking at.

For some developers this dream could become true because MochiMedia created the Mochi GAME Developer Fund: a $10 million fund that will help promising Flash and social game developers support their games through sponsorship, licensing and publishing deals.

The fund will assist small Flash game development studios and independent game developers worldwide in building world-class games and businesses.

You will find the details in the official page, with some FAQs. Here’s the four more interesting:

Q: What is the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: The Mochi GAME Developer Fund $10 million USD fund for investing in promising Flash and social game developers through sponsorship, licensing, and publishing. The goal of the Fund is to assist developers in launching and building rockstar premium games on the Mochi platform, and to cultivate long term relationships with Flash and social game developers looking to build world-class games and businesses.

Q: What is the target deal size for the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: The Mochi GAME Developer Fund intends to partner with Flash and social game developers on a sponsorship, licensing or publishing basis anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000. Additional consideration may be given to other types of relationships on a case-by-case basis. Generally, the funds will be given upon the achievement of certain milestones of the game development process. The specific milestones can be discussed with the Mochi GAME Developer Fund team.

Q: What types of games is the Mochi GAME Developer Fund seeking?
A: We are open to Flash and social games of all genres and gameplay types targeting all kinds of audiences. Particular attention will be given to games that have high potential to monetize via MochiCoins microtransactions, include social elements that may be enhanced via MochiSocial or are particularly great games.

Q: I don’t live in the United States. Can I still work with the Mochi GAME Developer Fund?
A: Absolutely! Flash and social game developers are located all across the world. We care less about where you live and care more about helping you build great games using the Mochi platform.

According to these FAQs, it looks like an exclusive sponsorship, but I hope to give you more information as I’m running to submit the form and ask for some millions for my next game.

FOG is looking for any game, no matter how old it is or how wide spread it is already, as long as it’s a decent game. In this case FOG will buy you a site locked version of your game, or even the .fla source code.

What happens when FOG buys a site locked version of your game

* The game is sitelocked to FOG
* You have to interface your game with their API
* You have to remove all external branding and ads

What happens when FOG buys the source code of your game

* FOG retains the rights to re-release, resell, re-use, delete, make more version and all in all everything with your code
* All branding, ads and credits will be removed

Note: if your game is already sponsored, you may no longer have the right to sell your source code. Check with your sponsor as FOG is not responsible for your previous deals

My experience

I am currently managing the latest small details about BarBalance. I’m selling the source code. Working with Neil is a pleasure as he’s very kind, professional and will support you through the entire process. Just consider FOG’s HQ is located in United Kingdom when your plan to chat with him.

His email, as well as his Skype, Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo and GTalk ids is Neil[at]FOG[dot]COM

I asked him a couple of questions just to give you as much information as possible

Are you really buying ANY kind of game .flas?

I primarily buy site locks of games, however if the source is available then we do try and purchase that too. I’m not out to purchase things left right and centre, all the games that are offered we review meticulously to see if it meets our standards, and at the moment, the majority of submissions are being rejected.

What’s the meaning of buying source codes? Don’t you think in most cases the sources would be hard to understand (i.e variable names in foreign languages, no optimization and so on…)

Sources in other languages aren’t too much of a concern as we have a multilingual staff base here at fog, if the code is not optimised then our in house programmer will go over it and see what can be done

Do you already have an example of a bought and republished game?

We have plenty of site locked games on our site. for games that we have bought source codes of and redone as fog games, and our own developed games can be seen at www.freegamesforyourwebsite.com

a few examples of site locks are

Pizza Pronto
Tank In Action
Mountain Rescue Driver
Perfect Balance 2

How much can a developer earn from FOG?

Generally prices range from $100-$500 for site locks, source code can be anything from $100-$1000 or more depending on the quality… I don’t feel that there is a limit on what a developer can earn for a
decent game, if it is really that good and someone wants it they’ll lay the money on the table to get it.

Hope this will help you to further monetize your games.

** edit **

BarBalance source code sold :)

So I am releasing the new version, compatible with the new feed and tested with WordPress 2.9.2. You can find it at the official page.

Talking about plugins, I am developing a new theme/plugin using crontables that automatically feeds the games, fixes the tables if MochiMedia updates the feed, and chooses the best games to publish.

Everything without any interaction from the user. The ultimate “forget about it and make money with your arcade site” plugin.

Stay tuned.

Now he is explaining us a new way to monetize Flash games: GamesChart

« When I first saw the announcement on Flash Game Developers group on www.linkedIn.com about the GamesChart beta program I immediately thought to participate. It was a surprise to me to find that my game Haunted House was at first position for the entire 4 weeks of the beta program!

Actually also my Alice Memory game is also on the chart, even if never more than in the 6th position.

What GamesChart is about?

It’s another way to generate money from you Flash games. The nice thing is that it is not an alternative to the traditional banner you place during the loading of the game. But it goes together.
The main idea is to have publisher to “bid” for which game will be in the chart and this will generate extra revenue to the developer, to the publisher who correctly bid and of course to the GamesChart organization.

This is from Barry White directly from linkedIn group.

I thought I’d include some more information about how GamesChart can earn developers money:

+ Every game that has the GamesChart API embedded in it is tracked by GamesChart.

+ The developer can also choose to enable or disable a series of dynamic charts that actually display within the Flash game itself.

+ The most popular games each week make their way to the top of the charts.

+ Any gamers who click on a game listed in these charts is taken to play that game on another portal.

+ Publishers use an advanced pay per click bidding system to purchase this traffic and drive users back to their own sites to play the games they have bid on.

+ Games need to be uploaded to the Publishers portal before they can receive traffic. (great for seeding)

+ Developers receive up to a 50% revenue share of any outbound clicks generated from within their game should they choose to display the charts. (also full blacklisting available)

+ Publishers also receive 10% of total revenues generated from any GamesChart enabled games featured on their site.

I am going to explain the very easy steps to follow to have a game added to this GamesChart.

In order to do so I am going to provide my other game Tokyo Train with this service as well.

First thing you need to register as developer, if you don’t already. This is quite easy to do, just follow instruction on the site.

You then are prompted to add a game:

So do not hesitate: go to click the button and create the new game:

Instructions are easy and nice to follow: I have to admit they did a very good job on make your job easy.

You are now prompted with the game id that you need to put on the component property to have your game identified.
Of course first of all you need to download the API library from the “GamesChart Wiki” link.

You have the choice to get the component for Adobe Flash IDE or the complete API if you use FlashDevelop and for both choices you can choose between AS3 and AS2. My choice was for the component and AS3.

The very first time you download the zip pack, you need to double click on the GamesChartAPI-AS3.mpx:

This will install the component, and that’s the only thing you really need to install: brilliant.

Now open your FLA and browse for the components (Windows > Components menu): you will find the GamesChartAPI one.

Now, again it’s easy: drag and drop the component onto the stage (better if at the top layer):

Do not worry about the position: it will be hidden once the game starts. Do you remember the game id? Go to grab it and paste it in the component inspector:

That’s all! You can now publish the game: you will notice a small G icon on top right of the stage.

You can force to have this cute icon can be hidden or display when you want. Or you can also move it.

I would suggest you to leave it for the entire game and in that position: it’s the best position, just adjust your buttons if you have any conflict.

In this way a player can click on the icon anytime during the game. This will let him vote your game and show chart. In fact when the icon is clicked the chart will appear and will let you open a new window with the games on the list.

You need one more thing: to publish the game. You can get your SWF file or you can first upload on MochiAds with version control as I am doing. This is the best solution because your game will be updated all over the world with the cute G icon.
That’s all!
Enjoy!

PS.: I just discovered that Haunted House is no more on first position! So let’s go there and click the cute “G” icon!! »

It’s a draw game, a classic in which you must draw a line to make a ball reach the goal, but with some twists, such as the ability to control ball’s speed with arrow keys, red zones that will kill your ball if it touches the lines you drew, 42 levels some of them with moving environment, and so on.

The engine is almost complete, and at the moment I am working on level design, then I’ll retouch the graphics and polish some details, and it will be completed.

As you can see, I am keeping the menu very simple, with only two buttons, and some space for the sponsors. In the level selection screen, there is also a lot of space for sponsor logos.

The only thing I still have to decide is how to save level progression… I don’t know if I should use a Mochi account, or simply save it as a shared object, or using Mochi Coins to unlock some levels, or allowing to play some levels only on the official site…

The game will be completed in about a week, if there is anyone interested in sponsoring it, I am open to any deal since I am still working on the game… just drop me a mail at info[at]emanueleferonato[dot]com.